Insurance to Help You Navigate Through Life’s Unexpected Moments

When Stacy and Kristi Decker of Beadle County, South Dakota, chose to purchase a Platinum-marketed supplemental insurance policy, they expected it to be beneficial in case of a childhood accident or injury—a near certainty many young families plan for. They didn’t expect they would have to use it for a cancer diagnosis in the family. Read on to hear, in his own words, how Stacy’s Platinum-marketed policy gave him peace of mind during his unexpected experience.

What interested your family in the Platinum-marketed policy?
I was a little questionable about doing it. My wife and I talked about it, and with the 3-year-old, it made a lot of sense to—just in case. Also, my dad had pancreatic cancer.

How did you find out about your cancer diagnosis?
I was doing dishes one night and had a pain in my back. I went to the hospital, and they thought it was kidney stones. My original doctor called and wanted me to see him to do a follow-up of the area, which was a little weird because they’d never done that before. Then, they did a scan and that was when they found the tumor. Then, he showed me on the screen what the kidney looked like—and that tumor was not supposed to be there.

What was your course of treatment?
We drove a couple hours away to Sioux Falls and stayed there. After the surgery to remove the tumor from my left kidney, I was in the hospital for around five days. I didn’t have to do any chemotherapy or radiation, so I was one of the lucky ones.

How are you doing today?
Everything’s better; I go in every six months for a scan for two years, and then I’ll continue to once a year for the rest of my life.

How did the money you received from your Platinum-marketed policy help with out-of-pocket expenses?
It helped with the normal monthly bills that came in, and I missed eight weeks of work. Without the policy, we would have had to have taken out a loan. And, I’m able to use the screening benefit for my screenings going forward.

What has it been like working with Platinum through the claims process?
After I got ahold of them, my claims specialist did pretty much everything for the claim. She’d call me up to tell me what was going on, and she was great. I would recommend the Platinum policies because, yes, it seems like the premium is a lot every month, but it sure helped us.